Best Ways to Open Your Novel

today's video is about something really really really important it's how to open your novel and i'm super excited because i'm going to be pairing my typical writing tips for you today with an exciting giveaway announcement so definitely be sure to stay tuned and watch through the entire thing so that you can participate in my very first giveaway now i truly believe that the opening pages of your novel are the most important in the entire manuscript and that is because the opening pages are what is going to determine if the reader is going to get invested in continuing on with the story or if they are going to put it down and if you are pursuing traditional publishing through a literary agent then the first 10 pages specifically are typically what a literary agent is going to review along with your query letter which will determine if they are interested in reading the full manuscript and potentially offering you representation so with all of that in mind it is so so critical for you to nail the beginning of your novel so today i'm going to reveal the three most effective techniques for opening your novel and i'm going to pair each one of those techniques with an example from a recently published novel now my examples today are going to be from the contemporary publishing landscape because i think it's really really important for you to compare your work against novels that are currently being read and circulated in the industry today rather than using classic examples that really might not reflect today's book market if you're currently working on a novel i recommend subscribing to my channel every week i upload a new video either with writing tips like this one or with advice on the publishing industry at large and how to go about getting your book traditionally published so if any of that interests you i would love to have you around if you're new to my channel i am a full-time book editor and i also worked in the traditional book publishing industry so that is the perspective that i am bringing with all of my advice and i am really really passionate about sharing all of that information with aspiring authors as i mentioned earlier i am going to be conducting my very first giveaway through this video so make sure to stay tuned all the way through the end where i reveal how you can enter that and win a free critique of your opening pages so let's dive in to the first technique on how to effectively open your novel and this is with a character detail personally i am a very character driven reader meaning that in order for me to get really invested in the story i need to feel an emotional connection with the main characters of the novel i'm always looking to relate to them on some level because that's what's going to make me interested in continuing the story and see what happens to them so there are a few specific ways that you can open your novel with a character detail to really hook the reader in on who they are and what their story is the first is through an intriguing piece of backstory something that has happened to them in the past that we're interested to learn more about another one would be telling us a little personality trait about them that's maybe unique or quirky that makes us feel they are someone who's interesting that we want to get to know better and the last is showing the character doing something interesting because then the reader will feel compelled to uncover why they are taking that specific action and see how it adds up to the overall story now opening with a character detail is really really effective for pretty much any genre because every type of novel is going to have characters and a lot of people like me are character driven readers who are reading a story to connect with that character so it's a really great bet no matter what type of fiction you're writing but i would say it is particularly effective in the literary fiction and women's fiction genres which tend to focus on character development a lot so now i'm going to read through the beginning of a novel that you use as a character detail to hook the reader in really effectively and see if you know what novel this is before i reveal it at the end there are two kinds of people in the world those who leave home and those who don't i'm a proud member of the first category my wife celestial used to say that i'm a country boy at the core but i never cared for that designation this is from an american marriage by tayari jones if you didn't recognize it which is a really really beautiful work if you haven't read it i pretty much recommend it to everyone i know it completely swept me away the first time i read it but i love this opening because it really gives us that little tidbit about the character that makes us want to learn more first we learned that this narrator has left home so maybe we are intrigued to learn why they did that and where they went as a result and then secondly we learned that they don't like being called a country boy which is something else that we're interested to learn more about because we want to know why they are grappling with this conflicting sense of identity so keep in mind with the character detail it doesn't have to be something crazy you don't have to give your character something outlandish to do or some kind of crazy personality trait it can really just be something as simple as them leaving home them not identifying a certain way or them identifying a certain way because something as small as that can hook the reader's interest to unravel all of the layers to that character the second way to open your novel effectively is by using really intense stakes it is so so important in those opening pages to ensure that you are giving the reader something to read for if nothing is really happening in your opening scenes then the reader is going to likely disengage and put the story down you must establish a really strong point of tension at the very beginning of your novel so think about what your main characters have to gain or lose and think about bringing that to the forefront in your very first pages or first paragraph even i talk a lot about the importance of establishing tension and suspense and urgency and how all of those things are interconnected in my video on the secret to a best-selling novel so i kind of gave away the secret just now but i would check out that video if you are interested in learning more about establishing intrigue and suspense now opening the novel with intense stakes is especially effective for mystery and thriller novels or any novel that has a layer of suspense or even crime involved in it however i do think that this will work for any genre just like i said with the previous technique because every story should have some kind of thing at stake that said it's important not to overdo it i am not talking about opening with an overly violent or gory scene at all because that can actually turn off some readers it's really more about having that sense of emotional urgency and the sense that these characters have something to gain or lose from what is going to happen in the plot so let me show you what i mean through an example of a novel that opens with intense stakes and again see if you know which novel this is before i reveal what it is lydia is dead but they don't know this yet 1977 may 3rd 6 30 in the morning no one knows anything but this innocuous fact lydia is late for breakfast this is from everything i never told you by celeste ing this is a really great opening that first line is so simple yet so impactful lydia is dead now if anyone is dead in your story that is an immediate way to intrigue the reader because of course we are going to wonder the circumstances surrounding that death and there's already that emotional layer because we are eager to understand the emotional ramifications on that death for the other living characters so this opening does a really good job of clueing the reader in on that fact and we are included on the fact that no one else knows that she's dead yet so that just heightens the tension that we feel because we are under the impression that in the story we are going to see the other characters learning about her death learning about the circumstances of her death and we're eager to figure all of that out and watch it happen the last technique that you can use to open your novel really effectively is through scene setting establishing the setting is a really critical component of your opening pages whether you lead with it in the very first paragraph or not it's very important for the story to have a sense of place and for your reader to get situated and immersed in that place as soon as possible now if there is something intriguing or unique about your setting then you can use that to draw the reader in starting with the very first line the key here is to make sure that there is something interesting about your setting and that you're not just describing a place that is normal or commonplace because that can actually do the opposite and make the reader bored in your opening pages which is the last thing that you want so make sure that you're describing something that is really intriguing that makes the reader want to learn more about your setting and the world where your novel is taking place this technique works especially well for fantasy and sci-fi genres because typically those novels are taking place in a world that isn't our own and so we are intrigued to learn more about it especially in the opening of the novel however one big thing to watch out for especially in those genres is that you don't dive into too much expository information right at the beginning of your novel because you do want to make sure that you also kick-start the action of the plot so immerse the reader in the setting but don't spend too too much time describing the setting you don't want to have pages and pages of background information on the setting before we really get going with the story that said as with the other techniques this one will work for any novel especially one that has a strong sense of place which i think all good novels do have so let's go into an example see if you're able to guess this one the nightclub is a temple devoted to the sacred worship of indulgence inside these walls there is no judgment you'll find no populists no protesters no spoilsports who might ruin the fun the velvet ropes out front stand sentry against all that instead there are girls in fur and designer silk swanning and preening like exotic birds and men with diamonds in their teeth this is from pretty things by janelle brown admittedly this one is not taking place in a fantasy or sci-fi realm however i really love how the author has set the stage in this opening paragraph and i think it is such a great example of how you can use scene setting even for a novel that takes place in our regular world she takes the setting of the nightclub which is something that the reader will already be familiar with to some degree but twists it and makes it really intriguing with the way that she describes it calling it a temple and discussing the girls who are preeming like birds and the men with diamonds in their teeth you can immediately see the setting see the people that are occupying the space and feel immersed in it and want to learn more about what's going to happen there so if you open your novel with scene setting like this one see if you can describe the place in a really unexpected way because that's going to be what intrigues the reader to keep going now is the moment that we have all been waiting for the giveaway details i have been speaking with some of you on youtube and off of youtube and it's just been so great getting to know all of you and getting to hear about your projects so i wanted to give back to you and let you know how much i appreciate you through this giveaway i did a poll to see what type of service that you'd be most interested in seeing as a giveaway and the vast majority came back saying that an edit of the first 10 pages would be most useful to you so that is what i have gone with now i'm going to be offering a one-page critique of your novel's first 10 pages and if you're working on narrative non-fiction i'm also happy to work on that as well since the storytelling techniques to fiction are very similar this is essentially going to look like a shortened version of my editorial assessment service which is where i lay out what's working in the current draft and what could be improved or strengthened to be made more effective to enter there are just three simple steps number one is to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already number two is to like this video and number three is to leave me a comment below with two items number one letting me know which of the three different openings i went through in today's video most closely aligns with your novel and two let me know what the biggest challenge has been that you've faced in the process of writing your novel keep in mind you don't necessarily have to be finished with your novel in order to enter because we are going to just be working on those first 10 pages you have until 5 pm pacific time on sunday october 3rd to enter the giveaway and then i will randomly select a winner from the comments below and respond to that comment prompting you to email me and then we will go from there i'll put all the details in the description below so please make sure to review those before you enter and i am so excited to work with one of you i hope these tips today help you craft a stronger opening for your novel and feel more confident in hooking the reader from the very beginning of your story i can't wait to read through all of your comments and ultimately select the winner for the giveaway and if you'd like even more tips on how to strengthen the opening of your novel check out my video on the most common mistakes that i see writers make in the first 10 pages and as always if you found this video helpful please like this video and subscribe also comment so that you can enter the giveaway and i will talk to you soon thanks so much for watching and happy writing [Music] you

Channel: Alyssa Matesic

Views: 26,061

Keywords: giveaway, authortube, writing tips for beginners, novel writing for beginners, how to write a book, how to write a novel, novel writing tips, writing tips, best writing advice, writing advice, book writing, how to start your book, starting your novel, how to begin a novel, how to start a novel, how to write a novel beginning, how to write a first chapter, how to write a novel opening, opening hook, how to write an opening hook, novel opening, how to start your novel

Id: E2d24F2DNw4

Length: 13min 55sec (835 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021